Strange Mercy
by IsYourH3artTaken
Summary: Elena grew up thinking that she didn't belong, that no one wanted her. But when a tall elvish Prince finds her and forces her to gather information on the human race for him, he begins to feel attachment toward the girl; the one thing he swore to hate. And as she grows into adulthood, those feelings blossum into something more. Prince Nuada/OC. R


**_Strange Mercy_**

**Rating: M for language, physiological manipulation, murder, trauma, effects of sexual abuse/sexual assault and it's aftermath. There will be some very dark elements, so I don't want anyone to read something that might be triggering.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Hellboy, only my OC.**

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_Fear is pain arising from the anticipation of evil. _**- Aristotle**

**Chapter One: Alone I Break**

**I**t was hard for me to sleep unless there was light.

I hated the dark and all it's demons brought along with it. Such kismet that I lived in an old sewer system where the light never touched. It had been my home for many years, since I was big enough to walk on my own. Sometimes I'd make trips up to the streets where life preyed and stalked amongst each other. City folk barely paid attention to a decrepit little girl, though the rare times they did, it was nothing short of disgust. My homely, ashen appearance gave off the impression that I was to be trusted as much as a diseased rat.

Most shops and innkeepers wouldn't let me wander within three feet of their establishment and hollered at me whenever I walked by. Mr. Ashworth threw a glass bottle at me when I ventured too close to his coffee shop. It hit against my right arm, and ricocheted over to a brick wall, shattering to pieces. My sleeve was ripped open and a deep gash embedded through my skin, four inch piece of glass protruding from the wound. I stumbled my way back to the sewers, blood trailing in my wake until the darkness swallowed me whole, hiding my tracks.

I could do nothing except tear off a chunk of my only blanket and construct a makeshift tourniquet. Without antiseptic, bandages, and stitches, the cut would fester and get infected. Being so small and barely weighing more than a leaf, I would surely die. I saw infomercials about simple medical procedures that could be done at home on those big tvs inside the wide windows of the retail stores. I had watched them before when there was nothing else to do, dirty hands and face pressed so hard against the glass that it left prints. The doctor on the screen explained the details and performed it himself on another man who looked like he was severely bitten by a dog on the leg.

There was blood and I hid my eyes behind my hands when he dug the needle in, but forced myself to look after a moment of cowardice. A crick in my gut told me that the commercial would be beneficial to watch, but it never occurred to me that it might come in handy sooner than I thought. I waited until dusk before climbing out into the street again when all was quiet, taking slow movements so the pain in my arm wouldn't ignite, then crept toward the twenty-four hour pharmacy. The neon sign blinked on and off, one letter _a_ broken and hanging limply. A teenaged boy stood at the register, red headed and freckles sprinkled along his nose and cheeks, and looked to be around seventeen or eighteen. The nametag pinned to his shirt read: _Mike._

When I ambled up to the counter, standing on my toes to see over the brim, he was engrossed in a magazine.

My voice came out as a hoarse whisper. "Excuse me?"

"What?" He said in boredom, not looking up from his unprofessional activity.

"I...I need some bandages and antiseptic. Oh, and needles and some thread."

He shrugged away from the counter and shuffled to the back cabinets, gathering my requested items. It was odd that he didn't ask where my parents were, if he even cared. Nervously, I looked around the store, seeing that it was completely empty except for the boy and I. If I intended to take these items and flee, I needed to time it right and be quick. Maybe it worked in my favor that the boy didn't have the decency to look at me. Just by one glance, you could tell I had no fortune.

The boy came back up to the register, taping a button on the screen. "That'll be 14.99."

I nodded, faking to reach for money in my pockets, then swept my arm across the counter, gathering the much needed items to my chest and bolted for the door. I didn't dare to stop for a second or look behind me.

"Hey!" I heard the boy shout and his footsteps raced after me.

But I was already out the door and heading for home. I was faster than him and dashed through alleys to slow down his path, potentially losing sight of me. After some time, I no longer heard his voice or any other sounds behind me except for the sounds of my barefeet against the pavement or the screeching of tires on the road. I stopped in the middle of a dampened alley, my lungs burning and legs shaking. Leaning against a trash bin, I surveyed the treasure in my arms, making sure I had everything I needed.

_Needles, thread, antiseptic..._

It was all there.

But the bandages...

Where were the bandages?

In a fit of desperation, I whirled around and scanned every inch of the ground, thinking I must've dropped it somewhere. I went a couple blocks down, but couldn't find it anywhere. It fell from my arms as I made my escape from the pharmacy and was probably lying close within it's boundaries. I couldn't risk going back for it and getting caught. My wound was still very much raw and needed to be treated as soon as possible. I returned home before the boy called the cops and laid out all my things at my designated corner.

Sitting cross legged, I began to peel off my wrapping, wincing as some of my skin pulled and blood flowed out. The antiseptic came first. I twisted off the cap and carefully lifted it to my cut, breathing deeply before pouring a generous amount into the slashed flesh. I dropped the bottle when the area exploded with pain and buried my mouth in the crook of my arm to mute my scream, biting onto the material of my good sleeve. The piece of glass lodged in my skin was nothing compared to what that felt like. My nerves felt like it was being chewed by acid and gnawed to the bone.

Taking slow, steady breaths, I severed some string with my teeth and struggled to loop it into the tiny hole of the needle, but managed to slip it through after the eighth try. It took me longer that time to gather my courage and prepare myself for the excruciating pain I was about to endure. I readied the needle at the top of the gash and swiftly stuck it through. The rats around me yipped and scurried away by the shrill of my screaming. With each stitch, the knot in my stomach enlarged and my temple began to pound, but I didn't know if it was from adreline or the effects of losing consciousness. My fingers felt numb, but I pushed myself to continue, letting my arm fall for seconds at a time to give myself a break from all the blood and unbearable feeling of my skin being pierced prick after prick.

Though somehow I stayed awake, my sobs mixing with cries of pain, morphing into the most terrible form of hysteria. After what seemed like hours, I finished the stitching, tore off another shred of blanket for my second tourniquet and wrapped it around my tender arm. I laid flat on my back once the deed was done and stared up at the black ceiling, cracked, leaking and hideous. My eyelids grew heavy and softly, I sung a Christmas hym I heard many times during the holiday spirit, murmuring the words to myself until I was content and comfortable enough to fall asleep.

After about a month, a faint salmon colored scar ran down the length of my upper arm. I traced it many nights while listening to cars driving above me. It looked so ugly on my tiny, hapless form. A permanent mark that reflected the selfish and cruel behavior humanity had resorted to. I couldn't help but wonder if that's why my parents didn't want me, why I was abandoned at such a young age. Fantasies ran wild through my mind, drawing and coloring together the faces of my would-be family. Were they kind, caring people? Too poor to raise a child and left with no choice but to give it up?

Or had I been spared amongst the many aborted lives and miscarried blessings every year? Left off on a door post as a reminder of someone else's mistake? Maybe that was something I'd never know and not meant to. A rat trampled over my barefoot, making me yelp and jump back into the wet wall. Five years of underground living and I still wasn't used to the rats. The way they smelled, the way they constantly squeaked. I wasn't used to anything about the sewers. But it was my home; it had to be.

I often lost track on the seasons. Bone chilling winters to the crisp air of Fall. Every one seemed so short and passed us by like wind. Some days it would be cloudy, maybe a rise in warmth here or there, and others were storms. Ones with thunder and lightening; the worst kind any had to listen to alone. When I thought the sound of dripping water would drive me crazy and nothing took my mind off of it, I began to pace around in circles, hands clapped tightly over both ears and hummed a made up melody.

_Go away,_ I told the rain in my head. _Go away forever._

With my eyes screwed shut, I bumped into something sturdy and well built. It wasn't a brick wall or the occasional debris tossed down into the tunnels, as the shape had some softness to it. It felt like a...person. I staggered back a bit, shock and what felt like excitement coarsing through my veins at the idea of another human being actually speaking with me, amicably. Company rarely came my way, though when it did, I was met with contempt.

My eyes raked the stranger from the feet up, taking in dark boots, equally black clothes that looked like a character from a fantasy book would wear. Regal and immaculate, two things that didn't fit well with the underground. I tipped my head up to look at him, lips parting when I realized his hair was milky white and glossy. A true fairy tale; everything a little girl dreamed of being when they grew up.

"Mortal," his voice was lower than I expected and spoke as a statement rather than a question. He was acknowledging what I was. "A _child."_

I blurted the first thing that came to mind. "Are you a prince?"

A chuckle resonated from his throat, but it wasn't the kind that also made you laugh or smile. This one made your skin crawl and your spine tremble and left you with a metallic taste in your mouth. He stepped closer, coming into the light, and I responded by automatically scampering back a few feet. When I saw him clearly, I couldn't help but stare in utter fascination. He was the most beautiful thing I ever seen. A noble character from a little girl's favorite book come to life, someone that you would runaway with to their castle if it meant staying young and naive and innocent forever.

I blinked quickly, wondering if he were a dream and I would wake up lying in my usual corner, cold and shivering and caked in dust. But he was still there, studying me, just as beautiful. Ethereal and haunting.

"What is your name?" He asked me.

"Elena," I replied, almost inaudible but I was sure he could hear me.

"And what is a child like you doing down here in this..._filth_," he inquired, obviously disgusted by his surroundings. He walked slowly to my left, half circling me.

I shrugged, curling my bare toes on the soaked ground. "My parents didn't want me."

A monster growled from the opening of the tunnel, large and hairy and dwarfing us both. I shrieked in terror, and receded into a dark corner, in fear of my life. "Who are you?" I asked my white haired guest, the twig of panic rooted in my stomach thrumming against my heart with each tick.

"My name is of no importance at this moment, you will know it soon enough."

"Okay," I said softly, and gulped, my gaze flickering back to the monster. It's wide pupils was fixated on me, ready to tear me to bits if I came too close to it's master. "Are you going to kill me?" I said.

A beat passed. "No," he rasped, though didn't sound so sure. "Unless I tell my friend here to." The monster snarled in response, shifting it's tremendous weight.

My throat tightened. "But you're not going to...are you?"

The same pause as before.

The stranger assessed me in silence, and the way he was standing reminded me of how people's body language changed when they were about to score big on a sale. Thumb resting on the chin, pointer finger lightly rubbing the lips in thought. "What to do with you?" He pondered to himself, staring at my face, then looked at the monster. "What do you think, Mr. Wink? Should we make an example of her?"

An example? I thought to myself, glancing between them both, and wondered how they were able to communicate with each other when one of them was just a beast. But they had a mutual look of understanding.

"Bring her then," he told the monster and turned away from me.

"Where are you-" I was going to ask him, but a strong force swept me off my feet.

The monster, Mr. Wink, whisked me up into it's huge arms and flung me onto it's back, leaving me breathless and dazed. I wrapped my arms tightly around it's neck, my legs dangling like an icicle as he trekked through the tunnels behind the white haired stranger. I peered my head up and over the monster's shoulder to see where he was taking me, but all I could see were flashes of rats, mold and feel shutters of the ceiling above us as cars sped over it. Wherever the destination, he wanted it to be as selective as possible.

The journey wasn't long, and just as my hands were beginning to feel numb after being clasped tightly together, I heard the muffled whooshing of trains. We must've been in another underground level, somewhere more remote but closer to civilization and I wondered why this was his chosen location. It made me contemplate what he was doing down here himself, in a place he held in high distaste.

"Down you go," the stranger commanded and the monster let me drop.

I fell on my back with a smack, pain shooting up my spine and engulfing my arm in what felt like flames. Black dots blurred my vision as I pushed myself upward to a sitting position, but I didn't let myself cry or show signs of discomfort. I'd already gotten that out of my system when I performed my little medical procedure weeks earlier. My scar still tingled when I thought about it, the blood underneath it hot and ready to burst at the slightest provocation.

Wobbling slightly, I tip toed around the monster Mr. Wink and looked up at an open grating, light shining through like a spotlight from heaven. The corners appeared less fearsome, creating illusion that a creature would sink it's claws into you and pull you into their dark world where you fall for an eternity. The same ones that scratched at my ankles in my nightmares, grabbing my tiny bruised and bloody hands, forcing me to be like them.

"You will stay here until I have use for you," the stranger told me, his sudden voice making me spin around to face him. "If you run, I _will_ find you and bring you back," he said so calmly and the way he was looking at me made it feel that time had stopped. "And kill you."

"I won't," I whispered, clutching my hands together. "How long will I have to stay?"

"Until I say." He turned his back on me, the odd spear from before held in one pale hand. "Mr. Wink, watch over our new friend while I'm away. If she tries to escape, stop her." The way he said _friend_ was funny, like he was mocking me.

I watched him descend further into the blackness, helpless and weak, and the memory of me crying and reaching for my absent parents five years ago carved into my brain, rehashing over and over again. I took a single step forward, my feet splashing into a muddy puddle, and my stomach churned with the notion of being left alone - with a monster.

"You can't just leave me here!" I wailed, wanting to run after him, but I knew going against his orders would only make him angry.

His body was no longer visible in the tunnels, but I could still hear his voice, as if he were speaking close in my ear. "I'll bring you a toy, human."

And there it was again.

That mocking tone.

Then he was gone.

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**A/N: This takes place roughly 10-12 years before the events of Hellboy 2. The movie will eventually tie in. :)**

**So what do you think? Do you like Elena? Leave me a review! I'd love to hear your thoughts. :D**

**Thanks for reading!**


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